Can the Planet (and Humans) Survive Technology?

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WASHINGTON — Charles Dickens could have been talking about the
21st century when he wrote the lines: "These are the best of
times, these are the worst of times." Technology can extend human
life and take us into space, but it is also destroying the
environment and threatening the survival of other species and
humanity.

Moving forward, what parts of nature should humans preserve? What
will the future look like? Will we develop a stable, long-term
relationship with technology? These were some of the issues a
group of scientists and humanists tackled yesterday (Sept. 12) in
a symposium held here at the Library of Congress.

Humans may not be able to predict the future of civilization, but
we can gain insight from scientific models, history and human
imagination, Grinspoon said. [ The
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A number of scientists have begun using the term " anthropocene "
to describe the geologic period of Earth's history in which human
activities are having a significant impact on the planet's
ecosystems.

One problem humanity faces is the loss of biodiversity.
Everyone's familiar with the threat to charismatic megafauna,
such as rhinos and tigers, but what about less obvious biological
casualties? As journalist and discussion participant David Biello
of Scientific American said, "We're going to end up with just one
kind of butterfly."

The butterfly became a recurring theme in the conversation, as
panelists debated the purpose of preserving a species. "Does the
butterfly have the right to exist just because it's there?"
saidmaterials scientist Odile Madden of the Smithsonian's Museum
Conservation Institute.

Humanity must save the genetic information that represents
butterflies and other organisms, Biello said. But that's not
enough. "The genome is necessary, but not sufficient," he said,
adding that the information about how a species interacts with
its ecosystem must also be preserved.

Tragedy of the commons

Human adaptability and ability to modify our surroundings
have kept our species alive thus far. But in order to make it
through the next century, humanity must view itself as one
species, the panelists said.

"There's an immense need for a planetary narrative," said
paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's
Human Origins Program and curator of anthropology at the National
Museum of Natural History. We also need moral responsibility,
Potts added.

Potts likened the lack of responsibility to "the tragedy of the
commons," a concept in economics in which people disregard the
depletion of a shared resource, acting in their own self-interest
rather than that of the group.

The question of whether we will survive in the face of an
increasingly technical culture comes down to what is meant by the
term "we."

Humans have made a division between the natural world and the
human world, Potts said, "but the evolution of
human culture is a natural phenomenon."